The Little Concrete Rose
by TrillaryBanksx
Summary: After a traumatic experience involving her young daughter, Ashra Jones packs her bags and moves back to Los Santos, where she was born and raised. Seeing old faces seemed good for the most part, except for one face in particular. Especially since that same face is the father of her child, who has no idea that she exists... Rated Teen to be safe, will definitely change later on!
1. Going Home

**It's been awhile, and I wanted to start something fresh. These past couple of weeks have been sort of like a turning point for me, and it inspired me to try something different. It's emotional, it's kind of dark...of course it's gonna have humor (I can't do a story without some type of comedy), but it's mainly about going and getting through a traumatic experience. It focuses on family, and how to make-up for the lack thereof. But, I will shut up now and get to the story. Enjoy, review, follow, criticize, and all of that jazz!**

**Disclaimer: I own my characters. Rockstar's lucky asses own the game and its characters. Enough said.**

**This is a warning: this story's main focus is on a little girl healing from being assaulted. So, some scenes may be a little touchy, which is why I'm warning and apologizing in advance. Alright, here we go!**

* * *

**One (I): Going Home**

* * *

"_911, What's your emergency?"_

…

"_Hello? Is anyone there?"_

Ashra held the phone away from her and it to her side. She was shaking violently, her face still hot with rage and hatred. Both of her hands were drenched in blood, one hand with the phone in it, and the other with a lead pipe, with blood dripping off of that as well. She looked down at the man at her foot, gasping for air with a pool of blood around him as well.

"M-Mommy?"

That sweet angelic voice snapped Ashra out of her rage momentarily, and she whipped her head around quickly.

"Leiley..." She whispered, tears streaming down her face. "Are you okay?"

The four year old girl nodded slowly, even though she was shaking with fright as well. Ashra finally held the blood-stained phone back to her ear.

"Someone...has been molesting my daughter." She said, her voice shaking up. "And he's incapacitated."

"Ma'am, is the suspect still in the house?" The operator asked urgently.

"He's at my feet, where he fucking belongs." Ashra spat.

"Police and ambulance units are being dispatched to your location as we speak." The operator said. "Stay on the phone with me until they arrive."

"Okay." Ashra said.

"Is your daughter okay?" She then asked.

Ashra looked back at her baby girl, who was now crying as well. Her clothes were ripped and tattered, and her underwear were still pulled down, Ashra felt her like her heart was breaking into little pieces, like this was her fault. All of it.

"No...she's not. She's alive, if that's what you want to know." She said softly.

"Good. The police should be there any minute now...I hope you got that sick fucker good." The operator said lowly. It was almost inaudible.

"Yeah...I did." Ashra said back.

The sound of the man at her feet, the supposed love of her life, laughing made her even more enraged, and she looked down at him with disgust.

"I'm...going to jail..." He coughed out. "But...when I get out. I'm going to kill both of you.."

Ashra held the pipe up, with the intent to make him shut up for good with one final blow to the head.

"Not if I kill you first." She said.

She stopped when she heard loud banging on the apartment's front door, followed by the door being kicked down. Police and EMT's surrounded them in a matter of seconds, and she dropped the pipe on the floor.

"He's still alive! Get him up and handcuff him." One of officers said to the others.

Ashra watched silently as they got him up and handcuffed him, before putting him on a stretcher. More EMTs and police officers came inside of the apartment, and some tried to help her daughter to her feet, but she was too shocked and terrified to move.

"Leilani..." Ashra said, stating the baby girl's real name. "Everything's okay. We're going to the hospital to make sure you're okay...you want these nice people to help you?"

Leilani nodded and the EMT's helped her to her feet, pulling up her underwear and pulling down her night dress. One worker picked her up and placed her on a smaller stretcher, just as two police officers went over to Ashra.

"We're going to bring you in for questioning, but I do not want you worrying about that now." One of them said. "For now, you stay by your daughter's side."

Ashra nodded and wiped the tears still streaming down her face. "I will...please lock that bastard up. I never want to see him again."

As she rode to the City Hall hospital in downtown Algonquin, she looked down at Leilani, who had fallen asleep in the stretcher, with an oxygen mask over her face. Her fists clenched, she closed her eyes and found herself crying involuntarily once again.

_This is my baby girl, and I let something like this happen to her...I'll never forgive myself for it._

* * *

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen! We have finally reached our destination. Welcome to the Los Santos International Airport. The date is August 18th 2013, and the time is now 3:35 p.m. We hope everyone has a good day, and safe travels to wherever else you plan on visiting while being here!"

Ashra looked around and saw the passengers around her grabbing there things from the cabinets above their seats, and heading off of the plane. She looked over at her newly-turned five year old daughter, who was still sound asleep.

"Leiley, wake up baby..." She said as she softly shook her.

"H-Huh?" Leilani said sleepily. She opened her eyes slowly and yawned. "Are we there yet mommy?"

"Mhmm, we're here. Look." Ashra pointed to the window Leilani was sitting near, and the baby girl looked out of it immediately.

"Wow! Pretty!" Leilani gasped.

"Very pretty. This is where mommy grew up." Ashra took her hand and lifted her out of her chair. "You get too see all of mommy's family...all of your family. You okay with that?"

"Yes ma'am." Leilani answered politely.

"Okay, let's go."

They boarded off of the plane and grabbed their bags, making their way outside of the airport. The hustle and bustle, place the sounds of people arguing in English and Spanish instantly put all of the missed memories of her hometown back in her head, and Ashra's spirits began to lift slowly. I'm home...she thought.

"Hey, sissy!" A familiar, and very loud voice called out.

Ashra looked a couple of feet in front of her and smiled brightly, waving back. Not too far away from her was another woman, who turned out to be her older sister, Alani Jones. Alani was five years older than her, but the two of them looked damn near- identical, leading a lot of people to believe that there were twins while they were growing up. Ashra and Leilani quickly made their way over to her, and gave her a hug.

"I'm so happy you guys are here!" Alani squealed. She let Ashra go and knelt down, getting on the same level as Leilani.

"Hi Leiley, you remember me?" Alani asked.

Leilani nodded and smiled back at her. "Yes Auntie." She said politely.

Alani pulled her in for another hug and gave her a kiss on her cheek, "You've gotten so big! You're growing into a beautiful little girl."

"Thank you." Leilani said back.

"You ready to go? I made the apartment nice and clean for you guys..well, it's pretty empty, but I still swept it made it clean." Alani giggled.

Ashra smiled back and said, "Sounds good. We're ready."

They walked over to the parking lot, Alani and Ashra doing most of the talking and Leilani looking around silently at her surroundings. Ashra placed their bags in the trunk of Alani's SUV and placed Leilani in the back seat, before sitting in the passengers seat herself.

"So...you're finally back." Alani said as she started up the car.

"Seems like it..."Ashra said back.

"Everyone's going to be so happy to see you, especially Mama."

"I can't wait to see her too."

Alani turned on to the highway, and began making her way back into the city. While she was driving, she looked through her rear view mirror and saw Leilani sleeping peacefully.

"You know he's going to be looking for you too, once he founds out you're back." She said lowly.

Ashra sighed and leaned back into her seat. "I know..."

"Are you going to tell him?" Alani asked her. When Ashra didn't answer her immediately, she sighed heavily. "You can't deprive a man of his daughter, Ash."

"He doesn't even know she exists."

"That's not his fault, and you know it. You need to tell him..."

"I will..." Ashra said, but it sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than her sister. "I will."

"Good. Lamar would be a fool to not believe Leilani is his...every time I see that little girl, she looks more and more like him." Alani smirked.

"That, I will agree with." Ashra joked back. "But can we kind of lay off of that for now? I kind of want to get comfortable before I do what I have to do."

"Ha, sure sissy. I won't speak on it until you're ready to talk." Alani said.

...

**Some important author notes: Ashra's name is pronounced "Osh-Rah", and her nickname is pronounced "Osh". Leilani's is pronounced "Lay-Lawn-Ey", and her nickname is pronounced "Lay-Lee", if you hadn't figured it already.I didn't want anyone feeling confused on how to say their names, since they are kind of unique. Alrighty, please enjoy the next chapter!**


	2. Reunions Aren't Always Good

**Chapter Two (II): Reunions Aren't Always Good**

* * *

Ashra wanted to spend the rest of the day unpacking, and making her new apartment more homely and comfortable for her. It was different, smaller than the fancy but quaint three bedroom brownstone she had lived in before in Liberty City. The small, one bedroom apartment that she and Leilani were now living in was definitely a change, but she didn't mind. When she got back on her feet, she would be able to buy a better living space for her and her baby girl. The apartment wasn't too far from where Ashra grew up (it was located in Little Seoul, and she was raised in Strawberry), but the block it was in was considered pretty safe (Asian couples and families occupied the majority of that neighborhood).

She wanted nobody, not even her mother, to know that she was back in Los Santos that day. Ashra wanted to rest up and get Leilani situated before she showed her around to her family. Surprisingly, the majority of her family did even know that she had a child, and she could count on one hand how many family members even knew Leilani existed (her mother included). She woke up the next morning, knowing that the day she was about to endure was going to be long, and dealing with her talking a lot. After getting out of her bed quietly, making sure she didn't wake her daughter, she walked into the kitchen and began making breakfast. It was quiet in the apartment, to the point where she could hear the busy street outside, and the conversations some of the people were having very clearly. Even though she could hear what was going on around her, she wasn't paying attention. There were a couple of things that were on her mind, but there was one thing that couldn't go away.

Lamar Davis. The mere thought of that man used to get her infuriated, and made her feel heartbroken all over again. Now? Ashra felt numb, she knew that she had no feelings towards him. She could ignore him for the rest of her life if she really wanted to. But, her sister was 100% correct about one thing: he had no idea that Leilani was his child, and she had to tell him. No daughter deserves to grow up without a dad, especially one that doesn't even know about her. If Ashra had to suck up her "nonexistent" feelings for him in order to tell him the truth, then so be it. At any point of the day, there was a chance she would run into him, so she wanted to tell him as quick as she could, so that she wouldn't be in his presence for too long.

"Mommy?" Leilani's squeaky voice snapped Ashra right out of her thoughts. She turned around and looked at her.

"Good morning baby girl." Ashra siad.

"Good morning." Leilani said back. "Making bweakfast?"

"Yup. Some eggs and bacon sounds good?"

"Um..." Leilani shifted back and forth and rubbed her eyes. "Can I have waffles with them?"

Ashra grinned and nodded slowly, "You definitely can baby. It should be finished in a couple of minutes, okay?"

"Okay...oh yeah, can I watch Dora?" Leilani asked.

"Yeah, my tablet's in the top drawer. Go get it." Ashra answered.

Leilani nodded and ran out of the kitchen, back towards the bedroom. Ashra continued to make the bacon and eggs, and popped four waffles into the kind of broken down toaster Alani had given her the day before. It was rusted, and she had to do some heavy cleaning on it when she first got it, but it still worked pretty well. Leilani continued to watch Dora on the floor in the living room, and Ashra was eventually finished making the breakfast. She brought two plates out and put them on the floor, one of them in front of Leilani, and the other in front of where she was sitting. She sat on the floor Indian-style, just as Leilani put the tablet down momentarily. She reached for her food, and Ashra pushed her hand back slowly.

"Uh uh. What do we do first?" Ashra asked her.

"Oh yeah, Grace." Leilani closed her eyes and clasped her hands together. "God, I'm hungry. Thank you. Amen!" She said slowly.

Ashra began laughing loudly and closed her eyes as well, "Amen!" She said.

After cutting up Leilani's waffles into the small pieces, they began eating from their plates.

"You ready to see your family today?" Ashra asked her.

"Yes ma'am." Leilani said, her mouth full of bacon and eggs. "We gonna see Gamma?" 'Gamma' was Leilani's way of saying 'Grandma', because she was still growing all of her baby teeth (she's only five, remember?).

"Mhmm. Gamma has no idea we're here, so we're gonna surprise her." Ashra said. "So, after you eat all your food, we're gonna get washed up and dressed, okay? I gotta do your hair and that'll take awhile."

"Awww do you have to?" Leilani whined. "I wanna go out like this."

Ashra took another look at Leilani's hair and started laughing. It was long and beautiful, but very thick and curly. She hated whenever Ashra did her hair, because she was so tender headed.

"You don't want me doing your hair? You look like you just got out of bed." Ashra smirked. "I tell you what, I'll just put it in a ponytail, okay?"

"Yes!" Leilani squeaked and put another spoonful of eggs in her mouth.

* * *

"Wow...never thought I'd see this neighborhood again.."

"I bet. Feels good to be back home doesn't it?"

Ashra answered with a shrug, and Alani parked into the driveway of the medium-sized house in the cul-de-sac. It was weird to not see anybody out on their porches, since it was almost 10 in the morning, but Ashra was kind of relieved. She still wasn't ready to see all of the people she grew up around just yet. Everyone unbuckled their seat belts, and Ashra unbuckled Leilani's as well. Once they were out of the car, they walked up the steps to the home that she grew up in, and Alani unlocked the front door with her keys. Ashra picked up Leilani and took a deep breath, before walking inside of the house herself.

"Mama, where you at?!" Alani called out. "I got a surprise for you!"

"Enough with they yelling, Alani!" She heard her mother say back. "I'm in the kitchen!"

Ashra smirked, and Alani started laughing.

"At least that accent is starting to lifting a little bit." Ashra said lowly.

"You think so? She sounds the same to me." Alani said back. "Come on."

They walked into the kitchen, where Beulah Jones was over the stove, cooking up breakfast. Her back was towards them, and she didn't even know that her daughters and granddaughter had entered.

"Mama, look who's here." Alani said.

"Hi Mama." Ashra said.

Beulah stopped cooking momentarily and turned around as soon as she heard Ashra's voice, a big smile creeping across her face.

"Ashra! You're here!" She said excitedly.

Ashra nodded and Beulah walked over to her, giving her a tight hug.

"Mama's missed you so much baby girl!" She said.

"I-I missed you too." Ashra said said.

Beulah looked at Leilani and smiled, gasping loudly. "Leiley, you've gotten so big! You was a little nugget when I last saw you!" Leilani smiled back and held her hands out to her, causing Beulah take her out of Ashra's arms. "You're just the cutest little ting!"

"Gamma, I missed you too." Leilani said, giving her a hug.

"You've been raising her to be so polite, baby girl." Beulah said to Ashra. "I love it."

"I try, Mama." Ashra said.

Beulah placed Leilani on her feet, and the five year old ran into the living room to play with the family's pet poodle, Ivana Trump, while she stayed in the kitchen with her two daughters.

"So, how have you been baby?" She asked Ashra. "Since you know..."

Ashra nodded. "We're getting through each day...before I left, the detective told me to look into family counseling, mainly for Leilani. So I'll do that..."

"How is she?" Beulah said.

"She's...talking more. But she still wets the bed at night..I had to put her in pull-ups again..." Ashra said.

Beulah shook her head, cursing. "I can't believe that fucking bastard would do that to his own daughter." She spat, her Ivorian French accent getting even stronger. "_C'est dommage._"

"Mama, I have to tell you something..." Ashra suddenly said, causing Alani to look at her. Alani touched her hand and widened her eyes, telepathically telling her 'You sure you wanna say this now?' Ashra responded with a nod, and looked back at her mother.

"What's that?"

"...G-George is not Leilani's father." She said softly.

"What?" Beulah said. "He's not?"

"N-No. I met him a year after I had her...Lamar is her father, Mama." Ashra confessed. "When I moved to LC, I didn't know I was pregnant."

Beulah's eyes got wide for a couple of seconds, before she closed them and shook her head.

"And he has no idea you're here." She said.

"No."

"You're going to tell him, right?"

"Yes."

"That knucklehead...it was wrong what he did to you, but you two were always cute together...he's not going to believe it." Beulah said, just as Leilani ran into the kitchen, with Ivana Trump prancing behind her. "Now that you've said it...she looks just like him." Beulah said, realizing the truth. "I don't know why I didn't think about it before."

"I'm sorry from keeping that from you...I was being selfish." Ashra said.

"It's all right baby. But now, Leilani needs her father in her life. Especially after what she's been through." Beulah said.

"You're right..."

* * *

"Be careful out there, baby! They're some fuckin' lunatics that's roaming around these streets."

"Yeah well, they'll be fucking with a lunatic if they try me. See you later, Mama."

Lamar walked out of his mother's house and closed the front door, locking it behind him. He made his way down the stairs, greeting some of the people he grew up with, before walking towards his car in the driveway. He stopped when he saw the front door from another house opened, and he knew that it was house of Beulah Jones. Thinking that it was going to be either her or Alani walking out, he was surprised when someone else instead. He was even more surprised when that someone else turned out to be someone he hadn't seen a very long time, five years to be exact.

_Ashra? No, it can't be. My mind is fucking with me..._he thought as he continued to watch the familiar looking female walk down from Beulah's porch, making her way towards Alani's car. Ashra Jones...the only woman he had ever truly been in love with, and as much as he didn't admit it now, he was heartbroken when she left years ago. There was no way she was back, she had moved to the other side of the country. She got into Alani's car and started it up, clearly oblivious to the fact that she was being watched. Without thinking, Lamar got into his car as well, and ended up following her down the block. She stopped in front of the neighborhood coffee shop, Ma's Beanery, and he parked no too far behind her. _Why am I following this girl?_ He thought as he watched her walk into the shop._ It's not like she's Ashra or anything._

Once he walked into the shop, he stood by the door while he continued looking at the woman at the register.

"Well well, that's a pretty face I haven't seen in a long time." The owner of the shop, Clarice "Ma" Deamont said sweetly. "Ashra Jones, what a pleasant surprise."

He felt like his heart had stopped for a couple of seconds when he heard those words leave Ma's mouth. Ashra smiled sweetly, and he knew it was her. It was really her.

"How you been, Ma?" Ashra said softly.

"Eh, dealing with this knuckleheads still...and I'm not even talking about the little ones." Ma joked. "You still got those insanely sweet tastebuds, sugar?"

"Yes, unfortunately. Mama and Alani want iced lattes, so let me get two of those. And I want a triple vanilla bean espresso."

"Gotcha. I'll be right back, baby." With that, Ma walked to the back of the kitchen, and Ashra leaned against the counter.

Lamar was still in shock, but decided to say something instead. There was no way he was just going to let her get her things and walk away. Not without explaining why the hell she left him in the first place (even though in the back of his mind, he knew it was because he had hurt her, badly).

"I see you still drink all of that crazy caffeine, huh?" He said out loud.

He notice Ashra tense up to the sound of his voice, and turn around slowly. Looking at each other face to face, for the first time in five years...it was taking a toll on both of them.

_She's even more gorgeous than she was years ago..._he thought as he continued to stare at her.

"Lamar?" She whispered.

"In the flesh..." He said back.

It was incredibly awkward, but he felt like he had to do something. So, he walked closer to her and gave her a hug, and she surprisingly hugged him right back. A weird, but familiar and warm spark was felt between the both of them, but only for a second.

"You look...good." She told him, even though it was an understatement. _"You look so handsome..."_ Ashra caught herself saying in her head.

He smiled slyly and said, "You do too. How've you been?"

"I've been okay...you?"

"The usual, I'm just chilling."

"Still just chilling on the block, huh?" She joked.

"Ha ha, no." Lamar answered back. "I'm pushing 30, I'm too old to be doing that shit anymore."

"That's good to know." Ashra nodded. It got silent again, as she was contemplating whether now was the right time to ask to speak to him. Finally, she decided that it was.

"Are you busy right now? I need to talk to you..." She said, catching him by surprise.

_What does she want to talk about? Is she gonna tell me why she left me? Or why she's back? _He thought.

"I'm free...but, before we do any type of talking, I need to know one thing." He answered. "Are you back for good, or are you gonna up and leave again?"

"N-No. I'm here for good." She said.

"Ash? Your drinks are ready, sugar." Ma called out to her.

"Could you keep them warm for me for a few minutes, Ma?" Ashra asked her. "We have to talk, it won't be long..."

"Sure baby. Just let me know when you're ready to take em." Ma placed the drinks in the warmer and helped another customer that came in.

Once they both sat across from each other at one of the booths, Ashra looked down at her hands, trying to figure out how to say what she wanted to say. Lamar on the other hand, was waiting to see what she wanted to talk to him about in the first place.

"You gonna tell me what you want to talk about?" He said.

"Yes...I'm just trying to see how I'm going to say it." She said.

"How about first telling me why you packed up and left in the first place."

"You know exactly why." She said, looking right at him.

"Really? Because last time I checked, you didn't say anything. I found out from Miss Beulah that you left for good." He said back.

"And you honestly think you had nothing to do with that? Nothing?" She said.

"I never said that..." He said.

"I hope you don't think you had nothing to do with it."

"I just said I never said that, Ashra. I know I fucked up...I just didn't think you would do that to me."

Ashra made a face and looked away. "I didn't ask to speak to you to talk about what happened between us. I have something to tell you."

"Okay so, what did you wanna tell me." He said.

"...We have a child, Lamar." She finally confessed.

His expressionless face changed to surprise almost immediately, and he sat back in disbelief.

"What." He said lowly.

"H-Her name is Leilani...and she's five." Ashra continued.

"Let me get this straight. You leave me, come back five years later out of no where, and then tell me that I have a kid? You really think I'm gonna believe that?"

Ashra was not surprised by his answer, but she was not happy at all with it.

"Yes actually, I thought you would." She said.

"You was probably with another dude while you were there. That's not my child." He said.

"She's yours! I got with him after Leilani was born..." She said.

"So this is why you came back, huh? The dude you was with wanted nothing to do with you two, you wanna throw her on me. It's not gonna happen, Ashra." He said.

Ashra felt like her heart had dropped. Did he really think she was that type of girl? It was hurting her, especially because he really didn't know the real reason she was back in Los Santos in the first place.

"Leiley needs her father in her life, Lamar." She said, clenching her fists.

"Well then go get him." Lamar said back.

Ashra shook her head, her eyes tearing up rapidly.

"She needs her father in her life...but we can manage without him." She spat, standing up. "I thought you knew me better than that. I know other tramps probably tried to say you got them pregnant, which is probably why you reacted like this. But I thought you knew me better. I have no reason to lie to you, you cheated on me, remember?!" She grabbed her bag and made her way back towards the front counter.

"Just pretend you didn't see me, and I'll do the same for you." She said, before grabbing her drinks out of the warmer. She paid Ma for the drinks, and left out of the coffee shop without saying a word, leaving Lamar there speechless.

...

**Quick notes, again! : I just wanted to give a little insight on Ashra's family, specifically her mother. Beulah is originally from Ivory Coast, so she's West African, hence her having a heavy Ivorian French accent (one of the major languages in Ivory Coast is French). She moved LS from Africa a couple of years before she had Alani, Ashra's sister.**

**So, how was it? Huh? HUH?! Lol but seriously, I've written four chapters so far and I've already cried three times while writing them. It's pretty emotional doing a story that focuses on a little girl getting hurt, but it is pretty rewarding when the chapter is done. I'm really feeling this one, and I hope you guys are too. I'll be updating as soon as possible, I'm trying to focus the majority of my energy on this hard ass math course I'm taking -_- have a good weekend guys!**


	3. No Explanations Necessary

**Chapter Three (III) : No Explanation Necessary**

* * *

From time Ashra had left him in the coffee shop, until the next day, Lamar had been unusually quiet. If witnessing someone from your past suddenly pop up after five years wasn't crazy enough, being told that the two of you have a child together was like the icing on the cake. He didn't believe it...at first. But now that he had told Franklin, he wasn't so sure.

"I know you're used to broads coming up to you and telling you they're having your child, but I have a feeling this is different." He told him.

"You sure? It sounds pretty much the same to me." Lamar answered.

"Think about it. She said Leilani was five, right? And she left five years ago?"

"Yeah...I don't know, F. This is just way too much for me right now."

"This is Ash we're talking about, Lamar. She was never the free-loading type. And I doubt she even knows about what you do for a living. Remember ya'll had absolutely no contact for five years...I think she's telling the truth." Franklin said.

"But what if she's lying? I'll be giving this little girl all of my time and love for a goddamn lie. My father did that shit with a girl I thought was my sister, and it turned out she really wasn't." Lamar said.

"Only one way to find out for sure dawg. You gotta get a paternity test. It'll finally shut you up...even though I already know the answer."

Now, he found himself in front of Miss Beulah's door, knocking on it. He felt like he had to explain himself to Ashra, and why he reacted like he did the day before, if though she told him to forget about her even dropping that bomb on him. If anybody knew where she would be, it was her mother. The door opened and Alani was standing at the door instead. She was clearly pissed, and didn't want to see him there. Ashra must've told her what happened...

"I'm surprised you had the balls to actually knock on this door, Lamar." Alani said.

"Where is she." Lamar asked, completely ignoring the jab she took at him.

"Why does it matter?" Alani said.

"Because I need to talk to her."

"I think you did enough talking yesterday. What makes you think she'd let you speak a word to her after what you told her?"

"I just want to know for sure before I claim Leilani. Just tell me where the hell your sister is, Alani." Lamar was getting annoyed, and tired of pleading his case to someone who wasn't Ashra.

Alani saw how serious he was and rolled her eyes. The two of them really did have a love/hate, brother-sister relationship. He was a fucking asshole, but she could tell he still loved Ashra, even after all of these years.

"She went..." Alani looked like she wanted to say something, but didn't. "I'm not sure. But I do know she's picking up Leiley from school at 3 o'clock. You wanna talk to her, go there."

"What school?" Lamar said.

"Dalton Elementary. It's in Hawick." Alani said.

"Okay." Lamar sported a quick smirk and walked off of the porch. "Thanks Lani!"

Alani rolled her eyes again and smiled, before going back inside of the house and closing the door behind her.

* * *

"I'm so happy you've decided to come in, Miss Jones. I understand that it's just going to be you today."

"Yes. Leilani had her first day of school today, so that's where she is...I'll bring her to the next session."

Doctor Michelle Terrus, was the family psychologist that was recommended to Ashra by one of the detectives that worked on Leilani's case back in Liberty City. Ashra knew that this was something that both her and Leilani needed, so she definitely going to take the necessary steps to make sure her daughter was able to get through the traumatic experience she had, and move forward with her life.

"Now, I've been already told that you are originally from here." Dr. Terrus continued.

"Yes ma'am, born and raised." Ashra said.

"Does it feel good to be back home?"

"Honestly, it does. It just felt good to see my family again after so long."

"What are you planning on doing now?" Dr. Terrus asked her next.

"I guess, get my life back on track. Get a job, work on getting a better place to live for me and Leiley.." Ashra said.

"And Leilani? How is she now?"

Ashra shook her head slowly. "...She's trying. She's trying so hard to make it seem like she's okay. My baby girl is so smart to be so young...she's turning on and off her emotions and doesn't even know it."

"How so?"

"She talks around me...she laughs, she plays with me. But when other people are around, she's more quiet and reserved...she doesn't want anybody touching her but me. And when I wash her up...she gets very scared, and I have to tell her that I'm not gonna hurt her." Ashra confessed. "She went back to wetting the bed again, but she hasn't done it in a week..."

"Because this has happened to Leilani at such a young age, it's going to take a very long time for her to get over it. She may not ever fully be over it, but she'll be very close. My main concern is her, because she's only five, but my concern also lies with you, Ashra. I don't want you to feel like you failed as a mother."

"I did fail as a mother...I was so blinded by what I thought was love, that the one person who I care about the most was getting hurt right under my nose." Ashra felt her heart sinking slowly.

"You did not fail, Ashra. You've done a terrific job raising her, and I'm sure you will continue doing so. She obviously doesn't think it is your fault, because you two are still very close."

Ashra nodded in agreement, even though the lingering feeling of guilt still resided in her. Dr. Terrus reached over and touched her hand softly.

"I am going to help both of you get through this. And I want you to know that you will never see that horrible man again. I want both you and your daughter to move on from this, with smiles on your faces. Do you want me to help the two of you?" She asked.

Ashra wiped her tears and nodded quickly. "I do." She said lowly.

–

When her first session with Dr. Terrus was over, Ashra made her way over to Hawick, where Leilani's elementary school was located. It was her first day of kindergarten, and she was surprisingly excited about it. She didn't even cry when Ashra had dropped her off earlier that morning, and Ashra knew she would have fun and make friends there. She pulled up to the parking lot of the school and got out, making her way towards the front of the building, where the rest of the parents were waiting. The doors soon opened minutes later, and hordes of kids, ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade, ran outside. Ashra leaned against the pole and scanned the crowd of kids, waiting for Leilani to come outside as well.

At the same time, Lamar had pulled up across the street from the school is his car and parked it, looking outside. It didn't take him long to spot Ashra, who looked like she was looking for someobody. He got out of the car and locked it, making his way across the street towards the school. As he got closer, he noticed a little girl looking at Ashra, before running up to her. He couldn't get a good look, but he knew that girl had to have been Leilani. The girl hugged Ashra, who picked her up and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Now, he close enough to hear them, but they had their back towards him.

"How was school baby?" Ashra asked her.

"Good! I made friends, and I built a house—" Leilani started.

"You built a house in class?" Ashra asked.

"Yess mommy, a block house. But a girl fell on it." Leilani said.

"She did? That sucks." Ashra said.

"It did suck...mommy, what's homewok?" Leilani asked her.

"_Homework_?"

"Yes. The teacher gave me it. Told me to do it at home."

"I guess we gotta do it at home then." Ashra laughed. "I'll help you with it, okay?"

"Okie dokie." Leilani answered.

"Now, do you want ice—" By this time, Asha had turned around and saw Lamar standing a couple of feet from them, making her stop her sentence immediately.

For the second time in 24 hours, these two former lovers were staring at each other. Ashra was surprised, she really didn't expect for him to be in her face after the rocky reunion they had the day before. Lamar on the other hand, was surprised too, but his eyes were directly on Leilani. _She...looks just like me..._he realized as he stared at the baby girl. Leilani looked at him silently as well, like she was trying to understand what was going on. Suddenly, she did something that surprised both Ashra and Lamar.

"...Daddy?" Leilani asked, pointing to him. Ashra's mouth dropped with surprise, and she looked at Leilani.

"W-What? Leiley, how do you..." Ashra breathed out.

"He looks like me..." Leilani said softly. "He's my daddy...right?"

Lamar finally snapped out of his shocked state and looked at Ashra.

"I came here to tell you I wanted a paternity test...but I don't need one." Lamar shook his head slowly, looking back at Leilani. "She's mine... She's my daughter."

* * *

**1 Hour Later**

* * *

Ashra found herself in Mirror Park, but she wasn't alone. Leilani was there, of course, but Lamar was with them as well. She was still in shock, but still overwhelmingly happy that he finally admitted the truth, and realized that Leiley was indeed his daughter. Now, it was time for the two of them to build a bond, because it was nonexistent for five years. The two of them were sitting on a bench, while Leilani was a couple of feet away from them, playing in the wishing well-like fountain in front of her.

"I gotta admit, we did a pretty good job. She's a cute kid...well, mainly because she looks like me." He smirked.

Ashra smirked back and shook her head, "Still a cocky motherfucker I see. But I'm happy you realized the truth, Lamar. I would never pin a child on someone who isn't their parent..."

"Yeah, Franklin kind of told me the same thing earlier...I can't believe I have a daughter that I had no idea about. Why didn't you tell me, Ashra? I missed out on a lot...her first words, her first time walking...her first day of school was today and I ain't even see her off."

"I'm sorry..." Ashra said. "I really am...I thought I was doing the right thing not bugging you about it. We weren't together anymore, so I thought you wouldn't want anything to do with her, especially because I didn't know I was pregnant until after I left."

Lamar shook his head slowly, "I was hurt when you left." Ashra made a noise, signaling that she didn't believe him, and he looked right at her. "I was! I was hurt, Ashra. But keeping something like this from me was fucked up...you had another man raising my child."

"I'm sorry, okay?" Ashra told him again.

"I forgive you." He said right back. "We gotta move forward though, my focus is on establishing a relationship with my daughter and making our relationship better...she needs both of her parents, even if they aren't together."

Ashra looked at him, surprised. "You've really matured these past couple of years, huh? I can't believe you said something like that."

"Eh, I try." Lamar said. "I'm not a young buck anymore, I had to calm down at one point...I guess losing you had something to do with it."

Ashra was silent, as she leaned back on to the bench. At the same time, Leilani ran up to the both of them, but jumped on Lamar.

"Daddy, can you take me to the movies?" She asked him.

"Yeah, I'll take you." He answered.

"And the eating store?"

"Yes."

"And the toy store?"

"Yup."

"And the—"

"Baby, you want him to take you to all of those places in one day?" Ashra laughed.

"...What, he can't?" Leilani said, clearly clueless.

"There aren't enough hours in a day to do that." Lamar joked. "But I tell you what, I'll still take you, just on different days. Sounds good?"

"Yes sir." Leilani jumped off of him and ran back towards the fountain.

Lamar watched as his daughter continued to play and splash herself with the water from the fountain, and couldn't help but smile.

"So, we have to work out taking care of her..." Ashra said.

"Mhmm." He nodded. "You should let her stay with me for the weekend."

Ashra's heart stopped momentarily when he said that. _Oh no, he doesn't know about what happened to her before we moved here..._she thought.

"Uh, it'll be up to her...I'll ask her when we get back home."

Lamar was confused with that answer, but decided to let it go. "Yeah, okay. Just let me know..."

When they got back home later on that day, it was like Leilani was going through a sugar rush because of how bouncy and excited she was. Ashra tried to get her to calm down for awhile, but it didn't seem to be working at first.

"Leiley, you have school tomorrow." She told her as Leilani continued to run through the apartment. "You gotta get ready for bed soon!"

"Mommy!" Leilani continued to sing as she ran past and around Ashra.

"Ugh, I shouldn't have let Lamar give you all of that candy..." Ashra sighed heavily.

"Hey, mommy?" Leilani finally stopped running, and was out of breath.

"Yes."

"Is daddy actually my real daddy?"

"Yes baby, he is."

"Why am I just now meeting him?"

"Because I didn't tell him about you, even though I should've."

"So...G-George isn't—"

"He's nothing." Ashra said, clenching her fist. "I don't want you to ever worry about him again, baby. Lamar is not going to hurt you like he did."

"Okay mommy." Leilani finally yawned and rubbed her eyes. "When is daddy taking me to the movies?"

"You gotta ask him...do you want to stay with him this weekend?"

Leilani didn't answer at first, as she continued to rock back and forth and look at the ground.

"You don't have to Leiley. I can tell him to bring you back here instead." Ashra said.

"I wanna...but I'm scared mommy." Leilani admitted. "C-Can I tell daddy what happened to me?"

Ashra looked down at her and picked her up, playing with her hair.

"You sure you want to tell him?" She asked her.

Leilani nodded slowly and said, "Daddy looks big and strong. He can beat up George if he comes back." while clenching her little fists.

"...Okay baby...you want me to tell him, or you want to do it?"

"Um...you can tell him. I wanna stay with daddy this weekend."

"Alright, I'll let him know. Now, I want you to wash yourself up and put on your jammies. It's almost time for bed." Ashra put her down on her feet, and Leilani ran back into the bedroom.

"Kay!" She yelled back.


	4. Interview Blues

**Chapter Four(IV) : Interview Blues**

* * *

"_**Hey, Leiley! Come here, baby girl."**_

_**Leilani walked into the living room slowly, going up to Ashra and stopping.**_

"_**Yes mommy." She said softly.**_

"_**I know I promise I'd stay home and make a cake with you, but my job just called in baby. They need a little help...so, I'll be gone for a couple of hours." Ashra said.**_

"_**What? B-But mommy, I want you to stay home with me..." Leilani said.**_

"_**I won't be gone for long baby, I'll be back at 4 o'clock okay? That's 4 hours from now...George is going to be here with you until I come back, so you won't be alone."**_

_**Leilani looked down to the ground and played with her hands nervously.**_

"_**I promise I won't be gone long." Ashra gave Leilani a kiss on the cheek and took her hand, walking her over to George, who was laying lazily on the couch. "Babe, I'll be back in a little while, okay? Please actually watch Leilani...make sure she doesn't get her hands in the toilet again."**_

"_**Yeah, okay. See you later." George waved her off and continued to watched TV.**_

_**Leilani followed Ashra all the way to the front door, and she opened it slowly.**_

"_**You remember what number to press on the phone in case you need me, right baby?" Ashra told her.**_

"_**Yes. Number 1." Leilani said, holding one finger out.**_

"_**Good girl." Ashra smiled and knelt down, giving her another kiss. "I'll see you later. I promise we'll make your cake when I come back."**_

_**Once Ashra stepped out of the door, little Leilani tried to walk past the living room quietly, without disturbing George. She got to the door leading to her bedroom, when he finally noticed.**_

"_**Leiley." His gruff voice said, causing her to stop walking immediately.**_

"_**Y-Yes sir?" She squeaked.**_

"_**Come here." George commanded, as he sat up on the couch.**_

_**Leilani hesitated before walking over to him slowly. When she was close enough, George pulled her onto his lap.**_

"_**Your mommy wanted me to watch you, so that's what I'm gonna do. We have four whole hours, Leiley..." He ran his fingers through her thick, curly hair. "So I want to play."**_

_**Leilani froze in fear and looked down. "I...don't wanna. Can I go to my room pwease?"**_

"_**No. You're staying here. You wanted to play with mommy, right? Well I want to play instead." George said, squeezing her arm.**_

"_**I don't wanna play." She cried out, and tried to get away from him.**_

"_**You wanna go in your room? Fine, let's go." George said.**_

_**He stood up and picked her up by her arm, dragging her towards her bedroom, against her cries. Once he got to the room, he slammed the door shut and threw Leilani on the ground. Her head hit the floor hard, and the four-year old felt dazed, fading in and out of consciousness.**_

_**At the same time, Ashra was running back up the stairs to her apartment, searching for the keys in her pocketbook.** I can't believe I forgot my damn car keys...**she thought as she took out her apartment keys. She was centimeters from putting the key in the hole when she heard yelling and crying. Cries that sounded very familiar.**_

"_**Leiley!" She said as she frantically as she unlocked the door and pushed it open as quick as she could.**_

_**There was no one in the living room or the kitchen, but she still heard Leilani's crying from a distance. The sounds of crying and "I don't wanna play!" was heard, and she ran towards it, ending up in front of Leilani's bedroom. Ashra's heart was beginning to sink, and she starting praying silently. **Please, God, let my baby be okay...**she thought as she threw the door open.**_

_**The horrible sight of the supposed love of her life on top of her defenseless, half-naked, crying, four year old daughter made her want to vomit. She was stuck, she had no idea what she was looking at. Ashra's entire body had shut down momentarily, and she felt like her heart was going to come up, and spit out of her throat. Then, a sudden feeling came back to her, but it wasn't like before. **_

_**It was pure, unfiltered rage.**_

–

"Leiley...Leilani! Baby, wake up!"

Ashra continued to shake her crying daughter, until she finally opened her eyes. Leilani looked up at her and began crying all over again.

"It's okay baby,it was just a dream..." Ashra said as she picked Leilani up, hugging her tight.

"I don't wanna play mommy...I don't wanna..." Leilani cried into her shoulder.

Ashra continued to soothe her, keeping herself from crying as well. Leilani's pajama pants were soiled, but Ashra didn't care. She kept rocking her back and forth for the next couple of minutes, until Leilani was finally beginning to calm down. When Ashra knew she was calm enough, she began humming Leilani's favorite song in her ear and stood up, walking out of their bedroom with Leilani still in her arms. She walked by the clock in the hallway and saw that it was 5:30 in the morning. _I have an interview at 8...there is no way I'm falling asleep now, _Ashra thought as she sighed heavily. She went into the bathroom and washed Leilani up, changing her out of her soiled pajamas, and putting her on a pair of sweatpants and a tank top. By the time she was finished, it was close to six in the morning, and Leilani was falling asleep once again. Ashra put her on the couch as she went back into their bedroom, taking the soiled sheet off of their bed. She opened the window and grabbed a bucket of water and cleaning fluid, scrubbing the soiled part of the mattress until it was cleaned, and smelling good. She then threw the soiled sheets into the washer.

"I'll wash it when I get back from the interview..." She thought sleepily. "I need coffee to keep me up. Better yet, I need espresso..."

After taking a shower, getting dressed for her job interview, and downing two cups of double-shot espressos, Ashra felt as awake as ever. She grabbed her pocketbook and the keys to the car Alani let her have (Alani had two cars, and since she wasn't using one of them, she let Ashra drive it until she was able to get her own). Around 7 o'clock, Ashra was out of the door with Leilani, taking her to her mother's house so that she could watch her, while she was at her job interview. This was pretty important to her, considering the fact that it was the management position she was looking for, and it was dealing with high fashion. It was paying good, and if she got it, she would be able to move into a bigger apartment a matter of months. Or even better, she would be able to get a nice little house for her and her daughter. She dropped Leilani off at Beulah's, and was given a kiss and prayer of good luck before leaving, and making her way to the interview.

The headquarters of the popular, high fashioned Urbana Clothing building was huge, and it was located Mission Row, Los Santos' famous fashion district. She had no problem finding it, and parked her car in the barely full parking lot. She turned the car off and took a deep breath, praying to herself one more time before unbuckling her seat belt, and exiting the car.

* * *

Lamar pulled up to the Urbana Clothing HQ building, going into the valet parking area and handing the valet his keys. He walked into the building, immediately getting stares from everyone he walked by. Some were stares of fascination, and others were stares of fright.

"M-Mister Davis! This is unexpected." One of the secretarys at the front desk said.

"Yeah, I wasn't planning on coming here today. But something's come up. Where's Timothy?" He asked, as she continued to look around for his assistant.

"Uh, he's running a little late today."

"You think? Tell him to come to my office when he walks through here. I gotta talk to him." He said, walking towards the elevator.

He got to the 19th floor, which was the highest floor in the building, and made his way to his office. The Vice-CEO's office was the biggest one in the entire building, besides the CEO's office that was on the floor above it. Lamar's office was the only thing on the 19th floor, which is why it rarely has any traffic, and only people who come through there are the ones who are authorized to. After settling in, he sat down on his couch and turned on the office's 50 inch television, and began searching through channels. 10 minutes later, the ringer buzzed, signaling that somebody was at the door.

"Come in." He called out.

"L, what's up?" His assistant and good friend, Timothy Yates said, walking into the room.

"Where the hell were you?" Lamar smirked.

"Eh, I had trouble with the baby mama." Timothy joked. "A little mix up, but everything's cool."

"Are ya'll good?"

"Yeah, we good." Timothy grinned. "So, what did you want me up here for?"

"You look over the new hires here, right?"

"Here and there. But Ivana and Ron are the main ones who do that. You know how strict they are about bringing in nothing but the best for you and Xavier." Timothy answered. "Why?"

"Nothing, I just need ya'll to keep an extra eye on one in particular. Her name is Ashra Jones...she's good."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Graduated from a fashion design-oriented college and everything...she's the right one for that open management position." Lamar said.

"Hmm...okay. I'll tell them to get an extra look at her...you know Ashra personally?"

Lamar smiled and nodded his head, "I guess you can say that. We grew up together." He felt like Tim didn't need to know that he was still in love with her, and that they had a child together just yet. _Wait...still in love? What?_

"Alright. As far as I'm concerned she's got it. Especially if you're recommending her, she must be good." Timothy said.

"Cool. Thanks Tim." Lamar said.

"Yeah, no problem. I'm gonna get some grub, you want something from the cafeteria?"

"Uh, doughnuts sound good right now. I got the mean sweet tooth." Lamar smirked. "Two raspberry filled glazed ones."

"Aight. I'll be back in a few."

When Timothy left, Lamar took out his phone and check the time. _10:45...the interview is definitely over now. I should text her. _

_-How did it go?_

He pressed the send button and placed his phone down on the couch. A minute later, the phone vibrated and he picked it up.

_-Horrible. Don't think I got it. Fell asleep during the interview._

_-LMAO what? 4Real?_

_-Lol yeah. Leiley had nightmares. Been up since 5._

_- Damn. Don't worry Ash, you got it._

_- Yeah...I really hope so Lamar. I wanna talk to you, but after I get some sleep._

That made his heart beat fast, and he caught himself. _Why the hell am I getting excited? There ain't nothing going on between us. Besides, it's probably about Leiley._

_- Cool. 2 o'clock okay?_

_- 2 is perfect._

_- Aight. I'll pick you up from your apartment. Leiley is with you?_

_- No, she's with my mother. I'll get her later on._

_- Aight. See you then._


	5. Her Truth Hurts

**Chapter Five: Her Truth Hurts**

* * *

"Baby, don't get so down on yourself. I'm sure you did just fine. They'd be crazy to not call back."

"Mama, I fell asleep right when they were at the end of asking me questions. I opened my eyes back up as quick as I could but it was too late." Ashra groaned as she got out of her bed. "They told me the interview was done, and that it was time for me to go...that lady who interviewed me last..I think her name is Ivana. She was a bitch."

Beulah chuckled on the other line of the phone. "Hopefully that's not how she is outside of work."

"If I do get the job, and that is a big ass if, I'll set that bitch straight real fast."

"And lose your job that quick because of it. Ashra, don't even worry about it, she's not that important."

"Yeah, I guess you're right...how's Leiley?" Ashra asked.

"She just woke up."

"Are her clothes okay?"

"Yeah, they're good. I'll keep an eye on her though, okay?I'll see you when you come by later."

"Sounds good mama. See you later."

"Bye baby!"

Ashra hung up the phone and walked over to the little closet in her bedroom, opening it. She took out a pair of jeans, before looking at them and hanging them back up. It was hot that day, and she didn't think wearing jeans would help. Instead, she opened her middle dresser drawer and took out a pair of her grey leggings. She took out her favorite mid-sleeved white crop top and changed into her new outfit. She felt like she could dress comfortably because knowing Lamar, he was going to take her to where he always used to take her whenever they had to "talk": Vespucci Beach. She topped off her comfy look by putting on a pair of her black and white low-top retro Air Jordan's. Her doorbell had rung as she was putting her hair into a ponytail. She dropped her hair out of her hands and it fell to her shoulders again as she walked to the door. After looking through the peak hole, she opened it and saw Lamar leaning against the side of the door, looking at her.

"Hello." She said, trying her hardest not to think about how good he was looking.

"Hey, you ready?" He asked her.

"Almost." She opened the door wider to let him in. "You're welcome to come in and wait. I gotta put this crazy nest up out of my face." She joked, pointing to her wild hair.

Once he was inside, she closed the door shut and made her way towards the bathroom, putting her hair up in her hands again.

"Before I forget, Leilani wants to stay with you this weekend." She said as she walked past him.

"She does? Good." He said, sighing with relief. He looked at her quick, but ended up doing a double take._ Either it's the leggings she's wearing, or all of that Liberty City pizza she ate paid off._ he thought unwillingly, and lustfully. Ashra walked back out of the bathroom with her hair in a messy bun, causing Lamar to tilt his head to the side.

"You wear messy buns now?" He asked her.

Ashra rolled her eyes and smiled, "Yeah, I guess so...I know you used to like when my neater buns got messed up."

"Mainly because I was the one messing them up." He smirked.

Ashra looked at him immediately, blushing hard. "Uh...we should probably head out now." She said.

"Mhmm." He was still smiling, enjoying all of her nervousness. "Let's go."

* * *

"I had a feeling you were going to bring me here...I'm kind of happy you did too. A lot of memories..."

"Yeah...I bet you don't remember our first date here."

"What, when you got hit in the face with a Frisbee? I definitely remember that shit." Ashra said, causing both of them to laugh.

"That poor guy...I hope it didn't take him that long to get that cookie on his eye to go down." Lamar said.

"You gave him a black eye for no reason...weirdest first date ever." Ashra said back.

They continued to walk down the beach's small, empty bike path that led to the place were they always hung out at years ago. _I'm trying so hard to stay mad at him, but I can't..._she thought as she half-listened to what he was telling her. _He did me wrong...he cheated on me over and over...yet I'm still here laughing with him like everything's okay._

"Ash? Hello?" Lamar said, waving his hand in her face.

"Huh?" She said.

"You gonna sit down?" He pointed to the bench in front of them.

"Oh yeah."

They both sat down next to each other, and he started talking immediately.

"I need to know what you wanted to tell me earlier." He started.

"Right...I want you to know why I've decided to come back to LS in the first place." Ashra said.

"Okay...tell me."

"...Okay. I found out I was pregnant two months after I moved to Liberty City. I didn't want anybody to know, not even my mother...I didn't tell her until I was 6 months in. A year after Leilani was born I was with George...he treated me good. He helped me out, he treated Leilani like she was really his, to the point where she was calling him daddy." Lamar felt his face get hot with anger for a second, when she said that, still upset at the fact that while he was still in Los Santos being reckless, his daughter was calling someone else daddy on the other side of the country.

"But it slowly stopped...it slowly began getting worse. He became more depressed, and his random outbursts became regular. He started saying how Leilani wasn't his, and he wasn't taking care of a child that wasn't his anymore...we argued more, and there were nights where he didn't come home at all. But I didn't know..." Ashra felt her heart stop, and she clenched her fists. "I had no idea what was really going on..."

Lamar noticed her change of tone and looked right at her. "What was really going on?"

"Leiley was becoming more scared of him, and I thought it was because he always yelled at her, but I didn't know..."

"Why was she scared of him." Lamar had a feeling he knew the answer, but definitely did not want to believe it.

"...I walked in on him touching her, Lamar." Ashra said, her voice shaking. His heart stopped, and his anger spiked almost immediately.

"What?!" He said.

"I thought my soul had left my body...that's how stuck I was. My whole life felt like it had stopped...I fought him. I beat him until the pipe I had in my hand bent out of shape. I failed as a mother...I let my daughter get molested right under my nose..." Ashra was crying now, and it was the first time he had seen her hurting like that in a very long time. It definitely made his heart break even more.

"Where is he." He asked lowly, trying his hardest not burst in anger.

"He's in prison..." Ashra answered.

"Good." Lamar sighed and rubbed his temples, before looking back at Ashra. "...You didn't fail as a mother Ash. Even though this...disgusting thing happened to Leiley, you did nothing wrong."

"It doesn't feel that way..."

"But it is that way. You did a good job raising her so far. She's very polite, and smart too...you did good Ash."

"Thank you..." She said genuinely. "You know, I never thought I'd be sitting here again, let alone next to you..."

"Me either, but I can't say I'm not glad you're here...I missed you, Ash. I really did." He said, moving closer to her.

"I-I...missed you too.." She breathed out.

He placed his arm around her shoulder, and it was more of a friendly gesture.

"So I was thinking, you could keep Leilani during the week, and I'll take her for the weekends." He told her.

"Sounds good."

"If you need money to pay for anything, let me know...that goes for both Leilani and you."

"I won't ask you for money unless I really need it, don't worry...the only thing I can think of that she needs is more pull ups."

"Pull ups?"

"Yes. She was potty trained before this happened to her...well, she still is, but it only happens at night when she's sleep." Ashra shook her head slowly. "I should tell you...Leilani has nightmares, and lots of them. She talks and cries in her sleep,and sometimes she'll wet herself. I don't know what else to do, so I just comfort her until she falls asleep again. I'll pack enough extra clothes in case you need to change her."

Lamar nodded, understanding everything that was being told to him. "Okay...my bedroom and the guest room she'll be sleeping in are right next to each other, so I'll just leave my door open when I put her to sleep."

"Okay...you sure you ready for this, Lamar? Parenthood is not easy, trust me." Ashra asked him.

"I know it's not, but I'm ready. I gotta make up for five years...besides, I would much rather have a child with you, Ash. In a cheesy, fucked up way, my dream from when we were together kinda came true." He joked.


	6. First Weekend

**Chapter Six: First Weekend**

* * *

**3 Days Later**

It was Friday, it was early, and the phone ringing in Ashra's ears made her immediately wake from her peaceful sleep, irritating her. She reached for her dresser without even lifting her head, and picked up the phone.

"Hullo?" She said in a gruff, sleepily voice.

"Hi, I'm sorry to call so early, but can I please speak to Miss Ashra Jones?" A male voice said on the other line.

"This is she. May I ask who's calling?"

"My name is Ronald Vargas, I'm with the human resources department at the Urbana Clothing Headquarters downtown."

Ashra's shot up immediately when she heard that, so fast that she almost dropped her phone out of her hand.

"Yes, I remember speaking to you briefly a couple of days ago. How are you?" She asked, way more polite than when she first answered the phone.

"I'm doing great Miss Jones. We've been looking over your resume and your references again, and we're really impressed. Even though there was a little incident at the interview, me and Ivana Braginski are definitely willing to overlook it."

"Really?" Ashra's heart began beating so fast, she thought she could hear it.

"Yes ma'am. In other words, we've selected you for the Head Project Management position, congratultions!" Ronald said excitedly. "Your work ethic and personality is definitely something we need here. And, you got a pretty good referral as well."

"...Really?" Ashra's could not believe what she was hearing. She had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't still sleeping.

"Yes. From one of the best." Ronald smirked. "But, when are you available to start?"

"As soon as possible!" Ashra said immediately.

"That's what I like to hear. I'll tell you what, I'll let you have the weekend to prepare and celebrate, and you start first thing Monday morning. Is that okay?"

"That's perfect! Thank you so much!" Ashra said.

"No Miss Jones, thank you! I look forward to seeing you again on Monday morning. When you get to the building, stop by the HR department so you can be advised on what to do from there. Your training is only going to be for two days, but I think you won't even need that."

"Okay, sounds good! Thank you so much again! You have a good weekend."

"As do you, Miss Jones. See you Monday!"

Ashra hung up the phone and immediately jumped off of her bed, squealing and jumping for joy to no one in particular. Her eyes were beginning to tear up, she couldn't believe that she actually was going to be getting paid doing something she loved: creating and styling items for a very well-known company. It was still pretty early, which meant that Alani was most likely sleeping after taking her own kids to school. She spent the next few minutes telling Beulah the good news, who in turn started cheering with joy as well. She had even called Lamar to tell him (just because she was in such a great mood, that's all), but he didn't pick up the phone.

"I can finally start looking for another car...another apartment...this is awesome!" Ashra said, plopping back down on her bed again.

* * *

"Leiley, mommy has some very good news. You wanna hear it?"

"Yes. What is it mommy?"

"I got a job...a good one too. I can start getting you all of the things you want."

"You can?" Leilani smiled brightly and threw her arms in the air. "Yes! Even the big toy house I saw the other day?"

"Even the big toy house." Ashra smiled back.

"Yay!"

Ashra pulled into the apartment building's parking lot and turned off the car, just as Leilani unbuckled her seat belt. When they got up to their apartment, Leilani immediately put her little school bag on the couch.

"My teacher gave me homewok again." She told her.

"Okay, we'll do it when you come back from daddy's house on Sunday." Ashra said. "I want you to get out of your school clothes and wash up. You smell like you played in dirt all day." She joked.

"How did you know mommy?" Leilani looked at her, surprised.

"I was five years old once, baby girl." Ashra laughed, and playfully slapped Leilani's behind. "Go, get washed up. I'll take out some new clothes to wear. Daddy will be here at 5 to pick you up."

"Okay! I can't wait! I wanna go to the movies, and the toy store..." Leilani continued to talk excitedly as she ran back into the bathroom, and Ashra sighed happily. This was definitely one of the best days she's had a very long time.

It was 10 minutes to five o'clock, and Lamar pulled up to the parking lot of Ashra's building. He got out of his car, made his way inside of the building, and took the elevator to the third floor. Ashra's apartment was directly down the hall once you got out of it, and he thought that for the neighborhood that it was in, it was a pretty small and cute apartment. But, she deserved to be living in a house. A big house. Specifically his. With him in it.

_Stop, stop. _He told himself as he tried to not think about the fact that his daughter, and the woman he had his daughter with, should be living with him.

After four knocks, the apartment door finally opened, and Ashra let him inside. Leilani was sitting on the couch, watching the small television in the living room.

"Leiley, look who's here." Ashra called out.

Leilani looked right at Lamar and smiled, jumping off of the couch and going towards him. "Hi daddy!" She said as she ran up to him and hugged his leg.

"Hey baby girl." Lamar picked her up and kissed her cheek. "You ready to spend the weekend with me?"

"Yes!" Leilani squeaked. "Are you?"

Lamar laughed and kissed her cheek again. "I definitely am."

Ashra looked on and smiled, feeling like her already great day was becoming even better. She would have never thought that she was be in the same room with this man again, let alone watching him actually playing and getting along with their daughter.

"Before you leave Lamar, I want you to know that I got it." She said.

Lamar stopped playfully swinging Leilani around and looked at her. "Got what?" He said.

"The job. I got the job!" Ashra said happily.

Lamar smirked, already knowing about the news, but pretended that he had no idea.

"For real? That's great Ash." He said, giving her a friendly hug.

"Thanks. Now you go, have fun. Take care of my baby,okay?" She told him as she let go of him.

"Yeah yeah, I got it. We're gonna have fun, right baby girl?" Lamar said.

"Yes sir! Now let's go daddy! Away!" Leilani squeaked, pointing towards the front door.

Ashra laughed and gave Leilani a kiss, and Lamar grabbed her little duffle bag, and they made their way out of the door. He took Leilani downstairs to the parking lot, and she stopped when they walked up to his truck.

"Whoa, daddy is this your car?" She asked as she turned and looked at him.

"Yeah." Lamar said and unlocked it with his keys. "You wanna see something cool?"

Leilani nodded, and Lamar pressed another button on his keys, causing the SUV to start up on his own. Leilani then jumped back, and looked in surprise.

"Did you do that?" She asked him.

"Sure did." Lamar grinned. He opened the door to the backseat and picked her up, placing her in the seat and buckling her seat belt.

It didn't take him long to get back to Richman from Little Seoul. When he pulled into the long driveway of his house, and Leilani sat up, her brown eyes wide with surprise.

"Wowww." She said as she looked out the window. "Daddy, this is your house?"

"Mhmm, do you like it?"

"It's huge! It looks like a castle!"

He parked the truck at the end of the driveway and turned it off. After taking Leilani out of the car, they walked to the house and he unlocked the door, immediately turning off the alarm system that was near the door. Lamar flipped one light switch and the entire area they were standing in lit up. Leilani looked around.

"Go ahead, look around. Imma take this up to your room." Lamar said, holding her back up.

"Okay." With that, Leilani ran away, towards the living room.

Lamar walked up the stairs to the guest bedroom that would be Leilani's room from now on, and placed her bag on the floor, near the huge walk-in closet. He heard the sound of her little footsteps running downstairs, and the sounds of her little gasps, making him laugh quietly.

"Daddy!" He heard her call out.

"I'm coming, give me a second Leiley." He said back.

When he got back down the stairs, she was standing at the end of it, looking right at him.

"You're a king." She suddenly said.

"H-Huh?" He was caught off guard by her statement.

"Mommy read me a story about a King. He had a biggg castle like this one, and he was big and strong. So, you're a king, and mommy is a queen." She then said.

"Yeah, you're right. Mommy is definitely a queen." He agreed.

"Soooo, what are we doing now daddy?"

"What do you wanna do? You wanna go to the amusement park?"

Leilani gasped again. "Can we?"

"We sure can. But, first I want you to see your room." He picked her up and walked up the stairs.

"Yayy! Daddy you're great." She cheered, putting her arms around his neck and hugging him.

* * *

**6 Hours Later**

* * *

Six hours, a couple of amusement park rides and an unlimited amount of funnel cakes later, Lamar had found himself back at his house, with Leilani sleeping in the next room. After they got back from the Del Perro Pier, Leilani continued to play excitedly with him for another half hour, before nodding off to sleep on the carpeted floor in the living room. He found her sleeping peacefully, and picked her up, taking her back up the stairs. She sleepily changed into her pajamas, and he placed her in her bed.

He took a quick shower afterward and changed into a pair of his basketball shorts and a tank top, going into his room as well. He sat on his bed and checked his messages: two of them were from girls he messed with recently (a couple of weeks ago to be exact. Why they were still trying to get in touch with him was beyond him), and there was one from Ashra. That was the only message he cared about, and she had only asked how everything was going. It was cute how worried she was, but it was understandable after everything that had happened to Leilani. It disgusted him, knowing that another man had the audacity to do that to his child. Had he known...had he known about it when it happened, that man would be resting in a grave, and not a jail cell. _He's fucking lucky..._he thought angrily and he began to lay back on his bed. He stopped when he heard a noise coming from the next room, sitting back up again.

"She's talking in her sleep..." He said.

The talking continued for a couple of more seconds, before he heard another noise. It was yelling, which eventually turned into crying. Lamar shot up and ran into Leilani's room and opened the door. Sure enough, the baby girl was crying in her sleep, and he ran over to her, picking her up.

"It's okay baby, wake up. Wake up!" He called out, causing her to open her eyes immediately.

"He's here.." She cried out.

"No he's not Leiley, it's me." Lamar said, holding her tight. "You're okay..."

"Daddy, I'm sorry!"

"It's okay, don't say sorry. You're okay...nobody's gonna hurt you again."

Her crying and shaking continued for a couple of more minutes, and he got up and left out of her bedroom, rocking her back and forth. Eventually, she calmed down, and he took her into the kitchen, sitting her on the island countertop in the middle of it.

"You want some ice cream?" He asked her. Usually, he wouldn't offer that to a child at this time of night, but he knew that it would calm her down. Leilani nodded, and he took out a pint of strawberry ice cream from the freezer. He grabbed a big spoon placed it on the table, on top of the ice cream.

"Let it get a little softer and then we can eat some, okay?" He asked.

"Okay." She said hoarsely.

"Leiley, mommy already told me what happened to you before you moved here...but I want you to tell me. Can you tell daddy what happened?"

"Yes." She nodded slowly.

"Okay..." He pulled a chair up and sat in front of Leilani.

"...Mommy had to work that day...wait, no. She didn't. Not at first. But she left out and I tried to go in my room...but he wouldn't let me. He told me he wanted to play, but I told him I didn't want to." Leilani started. "Every time he wanted to play, it hurted."

That last sentence stung him like a hive of bees, and he found himself getting upset once again. It was hard to listen to, but he knew that he had to.

"And he threw me on the floor, and threw me on my bed." Leilani lifted her hair up high and turned around, and Lamar saw an old scar near the beginning of her neck. "See? It was bleeding when he threw me. But mommy came back home and saw him...they were fighting, and I thought he was gonna kill her. He kept hitting and throwing mommy down, but she kept standing back up. Then she grabbed something and kept hitting him with it until the police came..."

It was silent for a few seconds, and Leilani grabbed his big hand, with both of her little ones.

"He's gonna get me daddy." She said to him.

"No he's not. And if he even attempts to, I'll take care of him. He's locked up now baby...and from what your mother told me, he's never getting out. I'm not letting anybody ever hurt you like that again, okay?"

"Yes sir." She answered.

He took the pint of ice cream and opened it, sticking the spoon inside of it and handing it to her.

"Okay baby girl, thanks for telling me...here, you can have some now." He said.


	7. First Weekend (Part Two)

**Chapter Seven (VII): First Weekend (Part Two)**

Early that next morning, Ashra was out shopping for little necessities for her apartment. She knew that she needed a new shower curtain, and she also needed a rug for her bathroom floor. Not to mention new pots and pans, because they ones she brought from Liberty City wounded up getting thrown away by accident. She was on a major budget, and had to really rationalized what she brought with the little bit of money she had left. This was another reason why she was so happy she was able to get a job, so that she could start putting more money away for Leilani's savings again (she spent the majority of it for the move back to Los Santos in the first place).

While she was in the bathroom aisle of the department store, her phone began vibrating in her pocket. She took it out and look at it, seeing that it was Lamar that was calling her, and picked up immediately.

"Hello?"

"Hi mommy!" Leilani's voice said on the other line.

"Hi sweetie, are you having fun with daddy?" She asked her.

"Yes, lots of fun. I went to the park yesterday, and I got on a lot of rides."

"You did?" Ashra realized that she was talking about the amusement park, but probably didn't know how to say 'amusement'. "That's great baby. You're listening to daddy right? I don't want you causing him any problems."

"I'm listening." Leilani said. The line went silent for a second, before she spoke up again. "Daddy wants to speak to you, hold on."

"Okay." Ashra said back. It was silent again, and she heard the phone being grabbed again.

"Hello?" Lamar's voice said.

"Yeah, what's up? Everything good?" She asked him.

"Yup, she's being really good."

"I'm surprised, usually she acts out when she with someone other than me."

"I can hardly believe that." He joked. "But, she was crying in her sleep again..."

Ashra stopped walking in the middle of the aisle, and sighed. "Did she wet the bed?" She asked lowly.

"No." He answered.

"That's good...it was hard wasn't it? Seeing her like that?"

"Hard isn't even the word...Ashra I swear if I only knew.."

"I know. Did you wake her up when you went in the room?"

"Yeah, I just held her until she calmed down...then she told me what happened."

Ashra nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see her doing it. She dropped the box of shower curtains in her cart and made her way towards the kitchen department of the store.

"You know, you are more than welcome to take her to some of her counseling sessions if you want, Lamar. The first one I took her to 2 days ago was okay, although she didn't do a lot of talking. Maybe she'll warm up to the counselor a little more knowing that her daddy is with her." She told him.

"Yeah, I'll definitely do that. What days does she have it?" He said.

"Wednesdays and Fridays. If for some reason I can't take her, would you mind?" She asked.

"Sure. I'mma get ready to take her to the movies, she's been talking about it since she woke up."

Ashra smirked and said, "Okay, don't spoil her too much."

"What? I have every right to spoil her. I gotta make up for five years, right?" He joked back.

"Yeah...I guess you're right. I just don't want you spending all of your money on the little things for her."

"Trust me, Ash." He said, smirking. "Money is the last of my problems. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Yeah, okay. Bye." She said, hanging up the phone.

* * *

"Leiley! Come on baby girl, let me see what you chose to wear!"

Leilani came down the stairs a few seconds later, and ran into the living room, where Lamar was sitting on the couch. He looked at the outfit she had put together herself, and raised his eyebrow.

"Is this okay?" She asked him.

"Yeah, if you want to wear five different colors." He joked. She was wearing her rainbow colored tutu with purple stockings underneath it, blue ballet flats and a red tank top. "You look like a bag of Skittles, baby." He then said.

"Thanks daddy." She smiled, oblivious to the joke he had made. "I like Skittles, so that's good."

"You sure you wanna wear that?" He asked her.

"Yup."

"Alright." He had finally gave in. Even though she looked crazy, the fact that she was only five meant that she could get away with it. She still looked cute, even with five colors on. He then looked at her hair, which was wild and all over the place. "Your hair." He started.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Your mother would kill me if I let you walk outside with it like that."

"Okay, so can you do it daddy?"

"H-Huh?" He was caught off guard by her question. Leilani walked even closer to him, to the point where they were face-to-face.

"Can you do my hair?" She asked him again.

"Uh..." Lamar looked at her hair, and looked down at the ground again. "Okay, fine. I guess I can do it real quick."

"Okay." She turned around and sat on the carpet in front of him. Her hair blocked his entire vision of the coffee table in front of them, and he sat back. _Damn, she is definitely Ashra's kid. _He thought as he grabbed the bushel of thick, curly hair. _I have no idea what I'm doing..._

"Oh wait, I gotta get my brush and some water." Leilani stood back up again.

"Water? For what?" He asked her.

"Mommy always wets my hair before she brushes it...it makes it hurt less." She said, running out of the living room.

Leilani came back a few seconds later with a brush, a cup of water, and one of her ponytail holders in her hands. She gave Lamar the water and brush while she sat back in front of him again.

"Okay, I'm ready." She told him.

"Um, okay..." He stared at her hair for a couple of more seconds, and finally sighed. "Baby girl, I gotta be honest. I have no idea how to do hair."

"Duhh." Leilani giggled. "I know that already daddy. Mommy told me to ask if you can just brush it, and put it in this." She said, holding up her ponytail holder.

"Oh...yeah, I can definitely do that." He said, picking the brush up off the couch again.

He dipped the brush in the cup of water and began brushing Leilani's hair, still feeling unsure, like he was doing something wrong. Her hair was becoming easier to brush because of the water, which meant he was doing something right. When it was brushed enough, he took the ponytail holder from Leilani and put her hair in a ponytail.

"Ow!" She squeaked.

"Shit!" He yelled back, immediately regretted cursing around her. "I mean, I'm sorry baby! Are you okay?"

"It's too tight." She said, tugging at her hair.

"Okay, stay still. I'll loosen it up." He loosened up the ponytail and fluffed it again. "How's that?"

"Much better." Leilani said, standing back up again. She turned to Lamar and gave him a hug. "Thanks daddy, see I knew you could do it."

"Uh huh, thanks for believing in me baby." He laughed, and hugged her back. "Now let's go, we don't wanna be late for the movie."

"Okay, let's go!"

* * *

After Ashra dropped her things off at her apartment, she had made her way back to Alani's house in Vespucci Canals. She was greeted by Markell, Alani's husband (and her brother-in-law) and their two kids, Carmyn and Cyrus, how were six and eight years old respectively.

"Hi Auntie!" Carmyn and Cyrus said, running up to her and giving her a hug.

"Hey babies! You two are getting bigger and bigger each time I see you." Ashra gave them a hug back and walked up to Markell, giving him a hug too. "What's up Markie? It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too sis. I'm glad your finally back home." He told her.

She walked inside of their apartment behind them, when Carmyn turned back around towards her.

"Auntie, where's Leilani?" She asked her.

"With her daddy for the weekend. She'll be back tomorrow." Ashra told her.

"Is that my baby sister's voice I hear in there?" Alani's voice called from a distance.

"Yeah Lani, I'm here!" Ashra called back.

A few seconds passed and Alani came from the bedroom rooms towards the back of the apartment, with her little black Yorkie Noire walking behind her.

"Did you just wake up?" Ashra asked, while pointing to her wild hair and smirking.

"Yeah like 20 minutes ago." Alani joked back. She went up to Ashra and hugged her, and Ashra knelt down to pet Noire.

"Hii Noire." Ashra petted her head for a few seconds, before standing back up.

"You spoke to Leilani yet? How is she doing?" Alani asked her.

"She's good, Lamar was about to take her to the movies."

"Wow, I never thought I'd see the day where the two of you are being responsible parents, and not arguing all of the time." Alani sighed.

"We never used to argue." Ashra said.

Alani looked at her, which caused her to start laughing loudly,

"Okay fine, maybe we did argue a lot, but that was when he wasn't..." Ashra admitted.

"When he wasn't the handsome, mature specimen he is now?" Alani winked.

Markell, who had gone into the kitchen, cleared his throat loud, which made Alani start laughing.

"Baby, I'm just repeating what she told me the other day." Alani called out to him.

"Alani!" Ashra sneered, feeling her face become hot with embarrassment.

"What?"

"That was supposed to stay between us." She said through her teeth.

"Oops.." Alani said, still laughing. "I dunno why you're so embarrassed. He's your child's father, if anything you have first dibs on him." She said, and winked at her.

"There are no dibs on nothing. I have no feelings towards him." Ashra said.

Alani made a noise and shook her head, "Yeah okay, keep telling yourself that." She said.


	8. The Not So Great Homecoming

**Chapter Eight (VIII): The Not So Great Homecoming**

* * *

**_Lamar walked into his bathroom and grabbed a clean wash cloth off of the rack, and threw it in the sink. He turned the water on and waited for a couple of seconds so that it could heat up, before wetting the wash cloth. After he washed his face and washed his hands, he dried his face with a small towel and turned the water off. He wiped away some of the fog in his mirror and jumped back immediately when he saw the reflection._**

**_"Ashra?" He turned around as quick as he could, and saw her standing a couple feet away from him. She was dressed in pajama shorts and a tank top,and her curly hair was down,which was a rare sight. She didn't answer him, she just smiled sweetly and walked closer to him._**

**_"Hi." She simply said._**

**_"H-Hey. What are you—" He started, but was cut off by her standing on the tip of her toes and pressing her lips against his. He was surprised, definitely, but kissed her back almost immediately. "Wait." He said, breaking away after a couple of seconds. "Where's Leilani?" He then asked her._**

**_"Sleeping..." She answered and brought him down closer to her again. "But I'm not tired yet..."_**

**_He smirked and picked her up, kissing her again. "You still got the strength to do this again?"_**

**_"Guess we'll have to find out." She said back._**

* * *

"Hey daddy! Daddy, wake up!"

Lamar opened his eyes quickly and saw Leilani looking down at him. She blinked and moved back a couple of inches away from his face, and he sat up, a little too fast.

"Ow!" He sneered.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry!" Leilani cried out.

"Nah, it wasn't you baby girl. I just sat up too quickly." He said in a gruff tone. He looked at her and saw that she was sitting at the edge of his bed. "How long you been up?"

"Um, I just woke up. My tummy was growling." She said.

"Are you hungry? Want me to make something?"

"Can you please?" She asked him.

"Yeah, no problem." He attempted to get out of bed, but stopped mid-way. "Uh, Leiley can you wait for me in the living room?"

"Okie dokie." She jumped off of his bed and ran out of the bedroom. When she was gone, he looked down at the cover and rolled his eyes.

_Guess I really am still attracted to that woman..._he said in his head as he thought about the dream he was just having, secretly wishing that Leilani would've just waited a little bit longer before waking him up. He eventually got up and walked out of the bedroom, and made his way the living room, where Leilani was watching cartoons on the television.

"You got any ideas for breakfast Leiley?" He asked her.

"Pancakes!" Leilani answered, putting her hands in the air.

He smirked and asked, "And what else?"

"Umm bacon...but mommy doesn't want me eating bacon a lot. She said it makes my face oily..."

"She doesn't? Well, if I make you some bacon are you gonna tell her?"

Leilani turned around quickly and look at him, her eyes shining with excitement.

"Daddy, you'll make me some bacon?" She asked him.

"Yeah, and I won't tell mommy." He answered and raised his eyebrow. "Will you?"

"No!" She answered.

So, he began to make breakfast for the two of them, and it was finished in a matter of no time. It was Sunday, which meant Ashra would be coming to pick up Leilani soon, so that she could get ready for school the next day. He watched as Leilani continued to scarf down the pancakes and bacon with a big smile on her face, seeing more traits of himself in her. Ashra had already told him that Leilani was born a premature baby (she was born 2 months earlier than scheduled), which explained why she was five years old, but was the size of a child at least two years younger. But she was smart, very smart. Like him when he was younger, she got excited whenever she learned about new things, or was able to do things on her own for the first time.

But he noticed something when they were walking back to the car from the movie theater the night before. People walked by them complimented her over and over, calling her "adorable" and "cute". He even got a few looks and nods of approval from some people, and he figured it was because they probably thought it was a rare sight of a man, specifically a Black man, taking care of his child.

"I had a lotta fun this weekend daddy." She said out of no where, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"You did? That's good baby. You know you don't have to only come on the weekends if you want...well, I guess that'll be up to your mother." He said.

"I can come over whenever I want?"

"You sure can."

"Okay good, I'll ask mommy. I got a field trip next week too...wait, what's a field trip daddy?" She asked him.

"It's when you go somewhere outside of the school. Where are you going?"

"Um...I can't remember." Leilani tapped her fingers on her chin for a couple of seconds.

"It's okay baby, don't think on it for too long. Just let me know when you remember." He laughed.

Suddenly, the front door bell rang, causing both of them to look up at it.

"Mommy!" Leilani squeaked, as she got up and ran to the door. Lamar chuckled to himself as he followed behind her and opened it. Sure enough, Ashra was standing there with car keys in her hand.

"Hi mommy!" Leilani said happily as she held her arms out.

"Hey baby girl." Ashra knelt down and gave her a tight hug. She picked her up and stood up straight, looking right at Lamar. "Hey." She said to him, causing him to smile crookedly back at her.

"Hey." He said back, and held the door open for her. "It would be rude of me to have you standing out here. Come on."

Ashra smirked and walked inside of the house, her eyes widening. _Holy shit, this is a big house,_ she thought as she looked around in amazement.

"This is your house?" She asked.

"Nah, I just lay my head in the master bedroom upstairs every night." He joked.

Ashra looked at him and started laughing. "You could've just said yes Ashra, I live here."

"Yeah, I could've." He said back.

"Daddy's house is big, right mommy?" Leilani said. "It's like a castle!"

"I have to agree...you must have a really good job." Ashra said.

"Eh, it's pretty good." Lamar shrugged non-nonchalantly. "Leiley, you gotta get washed up and dressed so you can be ready to leave with mommy."

"Okay." Leilani answered. Ashra placed her on her feet and she made her way up the stairs, towards her bedroom.

"So...how was your weekend?" She asked him, feeling like she had to start a conversation between them.

"It was pretty good...she's a lot like how I was when I was her age." He answered.

"I always said she was a spitting image of you, looks and personality wise. I don't see me in her at all." She joked.

"Yeah, I definitely agree with that...you start your new job tomorrow, right?"

"I sure do!" Ashra said, and excitedly clapped her hands together. "Lamar, you don't understand how happy I am...I can see it now, my designs on runway models..it's only a matter of time. This is the foot in the door that I needed."

Lamar nodded in agreement, wanting to tell her his little secret about him being the second in command at the job she's about to work at, but decided not to. At least not now.

"Hopefully I can put myself in a big ass house like this." She said, smirking.

"It'll only be a matter of time, trust me Ash." He meant that in so many ways. _You'll be in this big ass house, with me,_ he caught himself thinking. _Shit, cut it out!_

Leilani came back downstairs not too long afterward, and Lamar and Ashra had already made their way to his living room when she did. She immediately went over to Ashra, who looked at her hair and started laughing.

"Please don't tell me you went the whole weekend like this." Ashra said, while playing with her daughter's hair.

"Nope. Daddy did it yesterday!" Leilani said.

"Oh really?" Ashra said, looking at him.

"It was a ponytail, and I barely knew how to do that." Lamar joked.

Ashra started giggling again and playfully slapped Leilani's butt.

"Go get your brush and some water. Might as well do it now before I get lazy later." She told her. When Leilani left out of the room, she said, "I really wish I was here to see you do her hair...you probably looked lost as fuck."

"I definitely did. I don't know how you do it Ash, Leilani has too much hair for her little body." He joked.

"I have enough practice with my hair, so it's usually not a problem...she just doesn't like me doing my cute little styles all the time. It's best if you do her hair while she's sleep, that way she's not crying and complaining." She said.

"I'll remember that for next time."

* * *

When Ashra pulled up to her apartment building two hours later, she noticed that there were about six police cars parked in front of it, their blue lights flashing brightly against the sun that was already shining just as bright. She parked in an empty spot and and unbuckled her seat belt, taking Leilani out of the car as well.

"Mommy, is that the police? What's going on?" Leilani asked as they made their way towards the building.

"I have no clue baby, I'm gonna find out." Ashra answered.

They got to the big crowd of people, who were being held back by a couple of police officers. Ashra picked up Leilani and tried to get through, but ended up getting stopped herself.

"Sorry ma'am, no one is allowed passed this area at the moment." One of the police officers to her.

"I-I live in this building sir." Ashra said. "What's going on?"

"There's been a string of robberies in and around this neighborhood this past week. Looks like a couple of apartments in this building was their next target...two apartments to be exact."

"Really? Do you know which apartments it was?" Ashra asked.

"I'm not sure. More officers are inside the building figuring everything else, so no one is allowed inside until we get things a little more straightened out." The officer answered.

Ashra continued to look on as more police officers came out one by one, some of the people who lived in the building walked out as well. She immediately recognized one of the people as her next door neighbor, Hayumi Jeong. Hayumi recognized her as well and went over to her quickly.

"Ashra!" She said in a slight Korean accent.

"Hey Hayumi!" Ashra waved back. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." By this time, Hayumi was near her and stopped walking. "But you need to come with me."

"Uh, okay."

Ashra followed Hayumi into the building, after Hayumi told the police officer something lowly. They went up to the third floor where their apartments were located. They walked in front of her door and she stopped abruptly.

"Oh no!" Ashra gasped. Her apartment door's knob was kicked completely off, and it looked like someone had kicked the door open, hence the boot mark on it as well.

"Mommy, what's going on?" Leilani asked her.

Ashra ran into the apartment and saw that things were ruffled around, but it wasn't trashed. Then again, she didn't have a lot of things there to begin with because they had literally been there for a week. She walked into the bedroom and felt her heart stop. Her dresser drawers were open, all of her and Leilani's pajamas and underwear were thrown on the floor, and on the king sized bed as well. She frantically searched for the envelop she kept hidden under all of the clothes and found it, ripped up on the bed.

"Oh my God..." She swore, her heart sinking rapdily.

"Ashra...I'm so sorry..." Hayumi said as she walked in the bedroom behind her.

"Someone was in our house mommy?" Leilani asked softly.

Ashra nodded slowly, "All of my money is gone...all of it." She said, picking up the piece of torn envelope. "I had 2 G's in here, I was going to go to the bank tomorrow on my lunch break to open an account..."

"I had no idea you had money in the drawer, I would've told the police that when they asked me if I knew who lived here...I'm sorry...I'll go get an officer to come back up here." Hayumi said sweetly, and made her way out of the apartment.

Ashra had felt like her life had suddenly stopped. It's only been a week and she was already robbed out of money. _Some fucking homecoming..._she thought bitterly as she massaged her temples. She slid to the ground slowly, and Leilani hugged her from behind.

"It'll be okay mommy. The police will catch that bad man who did it." Leilani said confidently.

"Yeah...I hope so baby..." Ashra smiled weakly back at her. "Thank you..."

Three police officers came back into the apartment with Hayumi, and Ashra explained her situation. Everyone expressed their remorse for her money being stolen, and she gratefully thanked them, still feeling lost and confused. The officers assured her that there will be patrol cars outside of the building for the remainder of the week. Hayumi was also able to buy Ashra a newer, more sturdy lock for her front door, and have her husband install it for her. Ashra tried to tell her that she'll pay her back, but Hayumi denied it, stating that it was the least she could do for a friend. Once they were gone, Ashra called her mother and sister, letting them know what was going on as well. When she hung up from speaking to Alani, she began slowly folding up all of the thrown clothes, and putting them back in their drawers.

"_If you need money to pay for anything, let me know...that goes for both Leilani and you." _Lamar's voice played her head, causing her to shake her head.

_No, I can't ask him for that much money...and who's to say he'll give it to me._ _I don't know how I'm gonna make it these next two weeks, but I have to do it..._she thought as she placed the last folded shirt in the middle dresser drawer.

"Mommy, you're crying...are you okay?" Leilani walked back in the room and went up to Ashra, who was unknowingly shedding tears.

"I am?" Ashra wiped her tears and smiled at Leilani. "I'm okay baby girl. We'll be okay."

"Is someone else going to take stuff from our house?" Leilani said.

"No...they're lucky we weren't home when it happened." Ashra said. She pulled Leilani on her lap and held her tight. "Don't worry about anything, okay?"

"Okay...I won't mommy." Leilani said, hugging her back.


	9. Glimmering Hope

**Chapter Nine: Glimmering Hope**

The next day, Lamar found himself in a grueling, three hour meeting with representatives from the Miss T clothing company, discussing a possible collaboration in the near future. It was last minute, and he wasn't even supposed to go, but because his boss (and the CEO of the company) Xavier had an "emergency", he had to go in his place. He didn't mind, but it was tiring listening to presenters talk to him for that long. It was past 4 in the afternoon when he got out of there, and he checked his phone, seeing that he had a couple of missed calls and text messages. Two of the missed calls was from Alani, which surprised him. She rarely called him, to the point where he forgot that he even had her number in his phone. He knew it had to be important, so he called her back right away.

"Hello?" Her voice said when she picked up.

"Alani, you called me?"

"Yes."

"What's up."

"Are you free right now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you busy or not? I have to talk to you about something."

He was tired of hearing that expression, because he had heard it over and over for the past week. But, he gave in anyway.

"I'm not busy, you wanna meet up and speak or something?" He asked her.

"Nah, I have to pick up Cam and Cyrus soon from school. I'll just tell you now if no one is around you..." She answered.

"I'm going in my car now, so no one's around."

"Okay. Ashra was robbed last night." Alani said.

He stopped walking entirely. "WHAT?!" He damn near yelled.

"Well, her apartment was broken into while she was with you, picking up Leiley." She said. "She didn't want me to tell you this, but her money was stolen out of her drawer...all of it."

"How much was it?" He asked immediately.

"A little over 2 thousand...she was going to the bank today to put it in an account. Lamar, that was her first months rent, money for gas and food...no to mention money saved for an emergency. I can't believe someone can just take something like that, no counting how hard she's worked for it. She had a little bit of money left on her bank card and used it for gas to take Leilani to school, and to get to her job. Her rent is due next week and she doesn't get paid until the week after." Alani explained to him with concern.

"Why didn't she tell me any of this?" He said.

"Because she didn't want to be a burden on you. She really thinks she'll figure out a way to get it all back in time, but I don't think she will. I told her if anything happens, she could stay with me and Markie."

"And what did she say?"

"What do you think? My sister is so damn stubborn...doesn't want anybody to help."

"Okay...don't worry Alani. I'll take care of it." He finally said.

"Good, I knew you'd say that. Thanks again Lamar." She said.

"Uh huh." He hung up the phone and finally opened the door to his car.

_Before I forget, I need to make a quick stop somewhere first_...he thought as he started up the car.

* * *

"You did really well today, Ashra! I knew you'd be right for this job. I really like your ideas!"

"Thanks Farrah, you have a good evening okay?"

"Same to you, see you tomorrow girl!"

Ashra waved and made her way to the elevator, and headed downstairs towards the building's exit. Her car was the only one on the floor of the lot it was in, and the sun was beginning to set. It was a little past 5 o'clock, which meant that she had to pick up Leilani from her mother's before heading back home herself. She got in the car and started it up, glancing at the gas gauge and sighing heavily.

"Dammit!" She groaned, putting her head on the steering wheel. "My low fuel light is on...I don't have enough gas to get back to Strawberry, let alone all the way to Little Seoul...what am I gonna do..."

She closed her eyes and felt her heart sinking again, trying her hardest to figure out where to get the gas money from...if she could at least make it to Strawberry, she could ask her mom for at least enough gas to take Leilani back home with her. Ashra glanced at the gauge again and shook her head.

"It's not enough...I'd have to get gas before I even go to mama's..." She sighed.

Something told her to look in the little compartments in the car, so she did just that. The cup holders had a little bit of change in it, but it still wasn't enough. She reached in the glove compartment and pulled out something. When she turned it over, she saw that it was a picture of her late father, Raymond Jones, causing her to smile immediately.

"Hey daddy...I'm in a fucked up situation now huh?" She said, looking at the picture of him. Raymond had died from lung cancer when she was 14, so it had been some time since she actually thought of him, let alone seen a memory of him. The picture was taken years before she was even born, and she thought that he looked like a spitting image of her younger brother Amaire (you'll meet him very soon), who lived in Florida.

She felt something drop on her feet and looked down before reaching down and picking it up. Once she had it in her hand, she got a better look and realized it was a 10 dollar bill.

"What?" She gasped happily. She looked back at the picture of her father and smiled. "Thanks daddy...you really are the best."

With that, she started up the car and made her way to the gas station that was two blocks away.

She went to her mother's house soon afterward, feeling slightly better about her situation. Beulah had just finished making Leilani dinner, and Ashra felt relieved. She stayed for awhile and talked, explaining how stressful but satisfying her first day of work was, and how she couldn't wait to get back the next day. It was 8:30 in the evening when she was ready to head back home, and Leilani was already sound asleep. She picked her up and told her mother goodbye, before making her way back to the car. Even though she tried to keep an upbeat attitude, Ashra was still worried about how she was going to pay her rent this month, because she knew how strict the housing management was about it.

When she got to the building, she went to her mailbox first before going to her apartment. It wasn't a lot, she had pulled out bills first and stuffed it in her pocket. She reached in the mailbox again and felt another piece of mail, taking it out.

"This is...a check?" She said confusingly as she tried to open the piece of mail with one hand. She eventually got it and sure enough, it was a check. Attached to the envelope was a sticky note and she took it off with ease. She read it once, then read it again to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

**I was gonna give this to you personally, but I knew you wouldn't take it, so I decided to put it in your mail box instead. You need it, you know you do, and I told you I'll help you if you need it. See you later, Ash.**

**-L**

She looked back at the check and widened her eyes at the amount that was on it. _No fucking way...4 G's?! _She thought as she began to feel choked up._ No way he just gave me four thousand dollars like this...this is double of what I had in my drawer!_

"M-Mommy?" Leilani lifted her head from Ashra's shoulder and looked at her.

Ashra looked at her, just as tears began falling. "Yes baby?" She said hoarsely.

"You're crying? Oh no..." Leilani was showing concern.

"I'm fine baby...I'm fine. Let's go upstairs.." Ashra said.

They began making their way towards the elevator, and it came a few seconds later. _Maybe he really has changed..._she thought as they rode up to their floor. _Just maybe...thanks Lamar._

* * *

**1 Hour Prior**

* * *

"So...remind me again why I'm with you right now? You could've done this shit by yourself."

"Because I need a witness with me whenever I'm dealing with a large amount of money like this. Stop complaining nigga."

"Look at you, sounding all mature and shit." Franklin smirked and playfully slapped Lamar's back. "Usually it's me telling you to stop complaining."

"We not little kids no more, I ain't gonna have to much more of you hitting me." Lamar said, smirking right back at him.

"Yeah and I'll beat your ass like I used to do years ago."

"Yeah okay, that's what you think."

"Mister Davis?" The unknown voice caused both of them to stop bickering and look up.

"Yeah." Lamar answered.

"Vernon is ready to see you now."

"Okay, thank you."

They walked into the private office at the Maze Bank, where a man was sitting at the front desk. That man turned out to be Vernon Chase, and Lamar had hired him to help manage his money, once he accepted the job of being a Vice CEO.

"Lamar, it's been awhile." Vernon said, and looked at Franklin. "And you bought the stowaway too? Interesting."

Franklin gave him a look. "Go ahead Vernon, keep playing with me." He warned him.

"Yeah yeah, sit down. Both of you." Vernon pointed to the two empty seats on the other side of the desk. Once they were both seated, he looked back at Lamar. "So whaddya need?"

"I'm taking out money, I just want to know if everything is cool before I do that."

"Should be. How much are we talking?"

"4." Lamar answered.

"4...dollars?" Vernon asked, confused.

Franklin grinned and shook his head, "You better add a couple of thousands to that, V." He said.

"You're taking out 4 thousand dollars?!" Vernon basically shouted.

"Keep it down." Lamar sneered. "And yeah I am. Four thousand dollars."

"Why that much? And why all of a sudden?" Vernon asked.

"You don't need to know all of that." Lamar answered.

"Actually I do. It's my job to make sure your not going overboard with the spending, since you used to have a problem with that in the past."

"Yeah but this has nothing to do with that. This is for a good cause."

"I need to know what it's for, Lamar."

Lamar, who was started to get very annoyed, had had enough.

"Dammit Vernon! It's for the mother of my fucking child, okay?" He said.

"You have a child?!" Vernon said back. "Holy shit...congratulations?"

"Yeah yeah, just show me how my money is looking. Will taking 4 G's put a dent in it?"

"Ha, hell no it wouldn't." Vernon smirked. "You really hadn't grasped how much you're making annually are you? 4 G's is chump change compared to how much you have, and how much your getting each year."

"Good, that's good to hear." Lamar said, finally satisfied. "Let's do it, you think I should do straight cash or a check?"

"Duh nigga, a check? It's way too much money to hand her cash straight up." Franklin said.

"Wait, I'm still stuck on the fact that you have a child." Vernon said truthfully. "Why am I just now hearing about this?"

"Because I just found out last week. I have a daughter...her mother is in some type of fucked up shit and needs money, so I'm giving it to her."

"You're not with her mother?"

Lamar stopped for a second before shaking his head. "No. I'm not..but I'm still gonna help her."

"Sounds like you still love he—" Vernon started, put stopped when Franklin kicked him under the table.

_Shut the hell up_, Franklin telepathically told him. Even though neither one of them had telepathy, he knew exactly what that meant.

"I'm just helping her out, that's it." Lamar took out his check book and began writing in it, before sealing the check with an envelope. He took another small piece of post-it paper and wrote on that, sticking it on the envelope as well. "Thanks V, really appreciate it." He told Vernon.

"No problem man. Hey, you should definitely bring your baby girl over so that she can play with Stella."

"Definitely will. Have a good one."

Franklin had gone back to his home in Vinewood Hills, and Lamar had stopped back off in Little Seoul. He parked in the empty lot and knew that Ashra was probably getting off of work soon, which meant he had to be quick about it. As he was walking inside he had saw a police car parked near, and he assumed it was because of the robberies that were happening. When he get inside of the lobby, he saw the mailman getting ready to walk out. _Perfect,_ he thought as he walked up to him.

"How you doing, sir?" The mailman said to him.

"I'm good man, you?" He answered back.

"Doing pretty well, can't complain. Can I help you with something?"

"As a matter of fact you can." Lamar took out the envelope and held it in his hands. "This is gift for a friend who lives here. Can you put this in her mailbox? I was gonna hand it to her but I dunno if she'll take it."

"Sure can. Who is it?" The mailman said back.

"Ashra Jones."

The man looked at the row of mailboxes and took his keys out, opening one in particular. Lamar handed him the envelope and he placed it in there along with the other pieces of mail that she had received.

"There you go." The mailman said.

"Thanks, you have a good evening." Lamar said, making his way out of the building.

_I don't know what made her think asking me for money would be a burden...but hopefully that's enough to take care of what she needs for now..if she needs more, I'll give her more_, he thought as he got in his car and drove back home.


	10. The Surprises Keep On Coming

**Chapter Ten: The Surprises Keep On Coming**

* * *

**2 Weeks Later**

* * *

It's been two weeks since Ashra started her job, and three weeks since she had moved back to Los Santos, and she was slowly beginning to get back on track. The four thousand dollars that Lamar had gave helped tremendously, and she was able to pay rent for two months, as well as put money into a savings account. She still felt weary about the fact that he gave her that much money, mainly for the simple fact that no one has ever given her that much before. Hell, he didn't even give her that much when they were together. She figured whatever he was doing for work, he was really good at it, and it paid well. He wouldn't tell her what he did, even though he assured her that it was 100% legal. But, she was about to find out the truth about his job very, very soon.

As far as her job goes, she was in love with it, and loved that fact that she was constantly being looked at for new ideas for clothing. She spent the majority of her nights sitting up her bed, sketching away in her drawing pad while Leilani slept peacefully next to her. When she would come back the next day with her rough draft of an outfit, she would get commended on it. Now, she was there bright and early, tired as hell, but ready to start another day.

"Hey girl!" Her co-worker Farrah Jackson said when she walked through the door.

"Hey hey..." She looked around the area and saw that it was crowded. "It's crowded up here today, what's going on?"

"Oh, you haven't heard? We got an emergency meeting or something in a little while. The whole building is making their way to the conference room up here." Farrah said.

"The conference room can fit all of us?" Ashra looked around at all of the fellow workers that was up there.

Farrah grinned and nodded, "And then some. It's huge, you'll see."

"Okay...what's the meeting about?"

"Nobody knows." Another voice answered that wasn't Farrah's. Both women looked up and saw two more of their co workers, Lizbeth Collins and Amy Vargas, standing next to them. Amy was pretty cool, but Lizbeth had a bit of an attitude problem when it came to Ashra. Jealous, maybe?

"I heard the VC is going to be here too." Amy told them.

"Really? Damn it must be important then." Farrah said back.

"Um, VC? What's that?" Ashra was lost in the discussion.

Lizbeth rolled her eyes and looked at her, "Vice CEO? Second in command? He's right under Xavier Bourne."

"Oh...okay." Ashra nodded, understanding it. "Have you guys ever seen him?"

"No." Lizbeth answered.

"Yes." Farrah and Amy answered simultaneously.

"And he is so fine, girl." Amy winked.

"He is?" Ashra asked.

"Mhmm, a nice piece of chocolate. He's around our age too, you'll see." Amy said.

"Yeah, he is pretty cute. You'll get to see for yourself." Farrah agreed.

An hour later, it felt like the entire building, or the majority of it, was in the huge conference room. The four of them had found their way to the front of the room, and sat down, waiting for the meeting to started. Finally, someone walked to the front of the room as well, making everyone quiet down.

"Okay guys, thanks for being here." Ivana Braginski called out, causing the last bit of people who was talking to be quiet as well. "This won't take long, we just want to announce and explain the new project we're working on as a company."

"Where's the VC?! We just wanna see him!" A female voice from the back of the room called out, causing everyone to start laughing.

Ivana cracked a fake smile, but only for a second, before becoming serious again. "Some of you women have no type of respect." She muttered. "But whatever. Lamar, come out here and shut these females up."

Ashra, who was playing with her fingers half listening to what was going, looking up as soon as she said that. _No. _she thought as the crowd around her began cheering loudly._ It's not. She's talking somebody else._

She believed herself until she saw him walking up to the front of the room, and her eyes so big, she thought it was going to burst from its sockets.

"No fucking way..." She breathed out, causing Farrah to look at her and smile.

"Uh huh, he's handsome, right?" She said, nudging her playfully.

"Uh..." Was all Ashra could get out.

He got in front of everyone, and looked directly at Ashra, smiling wickedly. She wasn't sure if she wanted to started laughing, or walk up to him and punch him. _Why the hell didn't he tell me?! I'm working for him?!_

* * *

The meeting was over an hour and a half later, and the huge crowd began to disperse. She stayed behind a little bit longer before standing up with Farrah, and making her way out of the room.

"So, you wanna grab some breakfast? I'm fucking starving." Farrah said, rubbing her growling belly.

Ashra cracked a smile, it was the first one she had since she found out Lamar was the second in command at the company she worked for...it was way too much for her to deal with. But she knew one thing: that motherfucker had some explaining to do.

They walked outside of the room and she noticed Lamar at the other end of the hallway, talking to Ivana and Ron. A few of her co-workers walked up to him and talked to him as well, and she turned the other way to walk away.

"Uh, no girl, the cafeteria's this way!" Farrah said, turning her back towards where Lamar was. "Come on!"

"U-Uh, okay." She said.

As they got closer and closer, Ashra looked down at the ground. They walked right by them, and she finally took one more glance at him. When she did, she saw that he was looking right at her too. _Just walk away, keep moving,_ she began to tell herself. Her entire thought process changed when she felt something grab her free hand, pulling her back gently. Farrah noticed her change of step and stopped walking momentarily.

"Ash, you okay?" Farrah asked.

"Yeah. Let me just go to the bathroom real quick. I'll meet you in the cafeteria." Ashra stuttered.

"Okay, if you say so." With that, Farrah was gone.

At the same time, Ivana and Ron and walked away from Lamar, and the hallway they were in was pretty much empty. Ashra walked a little close to him and looked him right in the eye.

"Hey stranger." He smirked.

"You're full of shit." She said, smirking right back at him.

"Oh? And how so?"

"Um, were you ever going to tell me that this is your job?"

"I didn't tell you?" He said, feigning surprise. He saw how pissed she was getting, and it made him laugh even more.

"You play too damn much Lamar." Ashra pouted. "Seriously. Why didn't you tell me?"

He shrugged and said, "I dunno, I didn't think it was important."

"Really? You gave me four thousand dollars from the money you make, being my boss. I think that's pretty important..." She sighed and spoke in a lower tone. "Now I really feel like I owe you."

"You definitely don't, and I wish you would stop saying that." He said.

More people walked by them, and they began walking in the same direction Farrah had gone in.

"Are you still taking Leiley to her counseling session later?" Ashra asked him lowly.

"Why are you speaking so low?" He asked her back.

"Because I don't want people in my business. Do you have any idea what people would think if they knew the Vice CEO of this company was my child's father?" Ashra said.

He made a face and looked at her, "You honestly think I give a fuck what they think? We have a child, so what?" He said.

"You may not care, but this fucked up, double-standard society we live in does. I don't feel like dealing with that shit." Ashra said.

"Alright alright." He gave in. "Yeah, I'm taking her still. Is that okay?"

"It's perfectly fine...I hope she feels like talking this time around." Ashra said.

They were in front of the cafeteria this time, and Ashra looked at him again.

"This is hurting my pride so much...but thank you. For everything." She said genuinely.

He flashed a charming smile at her and said, "It's nothing Ash. Look, I gotta handle some more paperwork in my office...nobody's allowed up there really. But you can definitely come if you want." He joked, winking at her.

"Don't count it." She smirked, and waved to him before walking into the cafeteria. "I'll see you later." She told him.


End file.
